(Disciples of Christ)

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Pastor’s Notes

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.

Through the years, much has been said about speaking in tongues. It seems there are those who took speaking in tongues and “ran with it.” We may hear people on television or on the radio who spit out some gibberish, claim to be speaking in tongues, and, in some cases, even have someone standing by to “interpret” for them. Paul says speaking in tongues is one of the “lesser” gifts and recommends if you should speak in tongues you have an interpreter. There is no way to be certain but I believe Paul came up against the same problem in his time as we have in our own. And, unfortunately, Paul did not have the Book of Acts to fall back on at that time because if he had he would have said this, I believe: “If you are truly speaking in tongues everyone around you will hear you in their native language and will understand you perfectly. Otherwise, you’re a phony.” After all, when I read this story I found that to be the amazing part! Everyone heard and understood, regardless of their native language.